Gambling with our plane tickets

I'm not going to say that I have a gambling problem. Far be it for me to make light of such a serious condition. But I do have a gambler's soul. I like to play games. I like to try my luck at the slots. And I might even enjoy a round or ten of blackjack.

See, that's my problem, I never know when to stop. That little voice egging me on, wondering if maybe the next round is going to be the big win, is always chirping away in my ear. So, I try to stay away from temptation. But I just discovered that my gambler's soul can be teased by things that aren't found in a brightly lit and clanking casino.

We're going to NJ for Christmas. We go every year, and every year we wait too long to buy our tickets and end up paying a ton extra. This year is no different. It's mid-November and I don't have the three tickets that will get us to my sister's house in time to trim the tree, wrap the presents, and gear up for the orgy of food that we prepare, and relish, every year.

Two weeks ago I freaked out a bit at the distinct lack of plane ticket purchasing that had gone on and I jumped onto the Internet to check Expedia, Travelocity, and of course Kayak. When my heart started beating again and I realized that selling off one of the children to pay for the flights was not only illegal, but might also put a damper on the festivities, I did what anyone else would do, I shut down the computer and hoped that the next day the prices would be lower.

They were, by a couple dollars per ticket. So I shut down the computer again and reasoned that the next day they'd be even lower.

They weren't, but I couldn't bring myself to buy, because what if? What if the next day they went back down? 

At this point my more rational husband would have begged me to step away from the table the computer and insisted we put an end to the madness by just buying the tickets already. But he was at work, and anyway he has a bit of a plane thing, so he's never so inclined to be involved in the ticket purchasing since it means admitting that a flight is in our near future. I was on my own; me and my gambler's soul, and these prices that kept fluctuating.

Did I buy the tickets?

No! Don't be silly. I signed up for Kayak's email notification service. The one that kindly emails you to let you know if the price has gone up or down, and which is serious crack to a gambler like me. Two weeks later and I keep getting the daily email, and I keep hoping, and I keep not buying our tickets.

But the madness ends today. Because, as you can see, I'm clearly losing here. Seriously, no matter what the price is, I'm buying those tickets today. Christmas is in a month and I need to start buying some presents. I've been putting it off, you know, in case the prices go down just before the holidays.

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post.

Rose blogs daily at It's my life... and does product reviews/giveaways at The Lemonade Stand.